The Given Day, by Dennis Lehane

Characters
Irish Community and Boston Police	African American Community	Revolutionaries	Babe Ruth
Coughlin Family Aiden/Danny Tommy – father, Police Captain Connor – son, lawyer Ellen – mother Joe – youngest son   Daniel Sante – Danny’s undercover name   Eddie McKenna – uncle, Lieutenant   Nora – housekeeper, engaged to Connor, married Danny Quentin Finn – husband in Ireland   Steve Coyle – Danny’s partner, disabled   Mark Denton – head of BSC   Steven O’Meara – police commissioner, died   Edwin Upton Curtis – new commissioner, fired, reinstated by Coolidge   Rayme Finch – government agent   Gov. Calvin Coolidge John Hoover James Jackson Stover – president, GM	Luther Laurence Lila – wife Desmond - son   Club Almighty: Deacon, Dandy  – killed by Luther Jesse – friend – killed by others Smoke – left alive   Isaiah Giddreaux Yvette – wife   Clayton Tomes – working with Luther on NAACP building – killed by McKenna	Federico Ficara – killed by Danny Tessa Ficara – wife, affair with Danny   Nathan Bishop   Louis Fraina Pyotr Glaviach – driver, body guard   Luigi Galleani	Helen – wife   Johnny Igoe – agent   Harry Frazee – owner, Boston Red Sox

 For Discussion:

NOTE:  All page numbers refer to the paperback edition of the book

1. Thinking about the events that transpired in Tulsa that ended up with him killing Deacon, Luther reflected that “It took only a second for another to arrive on the same path as yours and change your life to a point it couldn’t change back.  One second.”  (Chapter 23, page 388).   Did the same thing happen to anyone else in the novel?  Have you met anyone who changed your life in a minute?

2. When Luther had the flat tire and was picked up by Bernard and Cully, they were talking about the war and how Germany was going to lose 15% of its coal and 50% of steel production because of “backing the play of a friend.”  They were talking about friends and how “you don’t pick friends.  You find each other.”  (Chapter 11, page 203)  How have you met your friends?  How did you meet the people you are discussing this book with?

3. Babe Ruth liked life during baseball season because everything was planned for him, he did not have to make any decisions.  Can you relate?

4. Why was Babe Ruth included in the novel?    What was the author’s point with the opening story where Babe Ruth and his teammates played a baseball game with Luther and his friends?

5. Why did Nathan Bishop save Danny during the May Day riot when the teenager was going to shoot him?

6. Eddie McKenna described Danny as having “’fair’ in your head now…You think it is attainable.  You do.  I can see it.”  (Chapter 18, page 327).  How is this an accurate description of Danny?  How did his desire for fairness change the way he acted and lived?

7. Why did Joe run away the first time and again during the riots?

8. What role did the press play in the riots?  For example, the press had heard reports that Major Peters wanted the State Guard at the beginning but Curtis denied the request.  (Chapter 39, page 666)  Then Coolidge lied about this and the press took his word and published the incorrect story.

8a. How does this relate to an earlier comment by Rayme Finch to Thomas Coughlin regarding the false suspicion that the molasses tank explosion was a terrorist act when he stated “People don’t want the truth, they want certainty.  Or the illusion of it.”  (Chapter 29, page 491)

9. Why do you think everyone rioted when the police went on strike?

10.Do you think Danny was to blame for everything including Connor’s blindness?

11. Do you think Danny and Nora will ever be welcomed back into the Coughlin family?

12. How did you like this book?  Was it enjoyable, disturbing or a mixture of both?

13. Live by Night (2012) continues the story of the Coughlins with Joe now a gangster being released from jail.  Does this story development surprise you?  Why do you think Joe turned to a life of crime when he came from a family of policemen and lawyers?

*****

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